Spirituality and Prenatal Care: proposal of a complementary health policy for pregnant women in Brazil Alexandre Rocha Almeida de Moraes, Cristiane Ribeiro Assis

Abstract

In recent decades, there has been a significant increase in scientific studies on the relationship between health and spirituality. Thus, there is an opportunity to understand if there is any benefit in encouraging such practice and what would be its repercussions on pregnant women and their fetuses. It has also been shown that stress and other disorders such as anxiety and depression lead to changes in the fetus in the short, medium and long term, which can significantly compromise the individual's ability to throughout his or her life. We also know that its biochemical markers, cortisol and adrenaline, can amplify the repercussions associated with diabetes and hypertension, the main causes of maternal and fetal complications during prenatal care. Although studies are still needed to understand whether attention to the patient's spirituality can act as a protective or healing factor, the benefits demonstrated so far in scientific studies justify its integration into the patient's health care, because it is a low-cost practice with obvious benefits. Would it, however, be possible to make this complementary treatment compatible with traditional medical acts and would this require any new legal regulation?